The 80 lb lap dog

Jim and Alyssa and Don and I share a dog named Roxy. She thinks she is a lap dog. She isn't. She weighs about 80 lbs. Don fixes breakfast (bacon and eggs) every morning for them. haha

Update Pictures

Joe and Shana and Jim and Alyssa and the kids did the Feed the Hungry 7k run on Thanksgiving day.

The one we passed on for the xmas card.

Scarlett giving Lukie loves. You're never real sure with Scarlett.

Luke and Mia

Thanksgiving

We played a game and Donnie Ross won a remote controlled trantula...and yep he was a hoot all day with it. :)

After.

The room before the feast.

We had a great Thanksgiving with over 30 people, children and babies. It was lots of fun, food, and catching up with the Strassburg's. My family (my mom, niece Linda and g-niece Gin) were also represented along with our three workers, Karen Tenniswood, Virginia Richmond, and Courtney Blanchard (and Courtney's dad too).

Some new pictures

Grandpa and Nana with twins.

What a cutie-patootie!

Lukie

Jim, Alyssa, Luke and Mia on the beach.

Playing in the room.

Scarlett (a bumble bee) and Chloe in front of Joe and Shana's big pumpkin.

Chloe and Eli. They were Mary and her little lamb for halloween.

Well now that the elections are over and my blood pressure has gone back down life is going back to somewhat normal again. Discussions around the house are keeping pretty close to normal ranges. Don and I, along with Jim, Alyssa, Lukie and Mia, went to Newport Beach for a week. Naturally it was during the horendous Orange county fires (Newport Beach is in Orange County). They were burning all around us but all we got was smoke. The air was really really dry but really really sunny and nice. We got home yesterday and Joe, Shana, Chloe, and Eli came over. We haven't seen Joe for a couple of weeks as he was deer hunting and didn't get back until after we were gone. He has quite a beard going and I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture. Maybe Shana did? Juan and Scarlett popped in too (Cari was teaching), they headed out today for Maui for the Thanksgiving week. We are going to have the family over for Thanksgiving this year, about 28 adults and 6 kids, 4 babies and 3 workers. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, eh! Here are some new pictures. Unless I've developed a tic in my eye, I'll put some up from Thanksgiving. haha

My life in a few pictures

I love all the messiness, stickiness, noise, and laughter that comes with family. The "Joe's" and the "Jim's" were over the other night (the "Juan's" were buying Scarlett a big girl bed as she has decided no crib is going to keep her in.)

Sage and Roxy seeing no value in grandchildren at all.

Mia being Mia. We decided that if Mia and Eli came 1st they would have set the bar impossibly high for any other grandbabies.

Luke and Eli. The 2 boys who know how important it is that they stick together against all these girls.

Chloe decided that Grandpa needed some adorning so she helped him out with some of her stickers.

Chloe and Scarlett love Grandpa's massage chair.

The girls playing.

This and That

The bottom picture is one of the 5 good reasons for the fence.
the next one is the 6th good reason.

Circus Fun

Last saturday we all went to the circus. It was soooo much fun, even Don enjoyed it. I don't think I have ever been to a circus before so I was just totally impressed. I guess I always thought of circus performers as just a step above carnies (as an aside, my friend Rebecca and I worked as carnies one year at our state fair. But another story.) But these performers are totally at the top of their craft. Anyway, here are some pics.

"old?" friends

Recently while we were all up at Cammanche Lake for the Labor Day holiday, the girls were all talking about babies, feeding babies, who's having babies, places to go with toddlers. Janis and I were talking about hot flashes, cold flashes, estrogen and the pros and cons of it, retirement, the need to walk for exercise and strengthening of our bones. (The men were talking about fishing). It just struck me that Jan and I have been through the whole cycle. When we first met, 30 years ago, our kids were babies and we talked the talk of babies. Now we are on the subject of estrogen, fiber and exercise. We have traveled far and wide with the Caston's, with babies, with kids, with teenagers, then just with us. I have this picture of our Yosemite trip in the 80's. What fun we have had through the years.

Pool Fence

After waiting allllll summer, we finally got our pool fence in. This will help us keep our little grandkidlets safe. It works great for the dog too. She can't come up to the door, they can't go out to the pool. Win Win!

Labor Day Weekend

Eli, Chloe, Scarlett, Mia and Luke

We were able to get away for a few days to our place on Cammanche Lake. The whole family came up along with Nicole Ziniker (Shana's sister) and her boyfriend Blake Berg, Russell and Lacy Berry and Butch and Janis. It was a lot of fun with the boat, jet skis, and just swimming....and of course eating, eating, eating. I was able to take an adorable picture of all the grandkidletts. We have 5 now, and Cari and Juan are expecting (our #6) in March. Yippee!!!!!

I'M It!

Well I guess I've been tagged. I'm supposed to write down 7 things that most people don't know about me. I have to admit it's been a lot of fun thinking about what I would write. So here goes:

1. I love to vacuume. But I especially love to vacuume with a bagless vacuume because I can see all the nasty stuff I'm getting up. I also "savor" cleaning the filter. It's just so gratifying. (and maybe a little disturbing?)

2. I marched in the Capitalaires All Girl Drum and Bugle Corps, from Sacramento, for 6 years, age 14-20. I played a french horn bugle. (Towards the end of my time they became the "Sacramento Freelancers", I guess the all girl thing was not working anymore.)

3. I played a french horn in college. Couldn't play one now, but I did learn and retained how to read music.

4. I keep a pretty tidy house (actually I can be a little anal about it) but look out if you open a closet or drawer. If I see it, it's clean, if I don't, then it gets cleaned sporadically.

5. I love to read. My dream vacation would be Maui with Don and I just laying on the beach (or pool) reading our books. BUT....Don hates to read. He's read, maybe, 3 books in the 33 years we've been married. Well 3-1/2. He's been working on a John Grisham for almost a year. He's too hyper. Wants to ride around looking at things.

6. I love my country. When we were in Europe for 3 weeks, I was homesick for America, where I knew how things worked, I could get water with my food and I feel safe. And I'm so glad that I now have a women that I can vote for in Sarah Palin. I can't think of a better Presidential office than one that has both voices.

7. I'm trying really really hard to stop a horrible character flaw that I recently discovered was getting a little out of control (no Don, it's not shopping)it's

oh...I only need to put down 7. hahahaha

Beings as I don't know who reads this site, if anyone, I'm going to tag Sharon C. and Gina. You're IT!

Family Pics

A few family pictures:
Grandpa and Luke
Picnic in the park.
Chloe turned 2 in July. Shana made a great Straberry Shortcake cake.
Joe got a deer up at Mt. Ranch with his bow.

Saturday's are brutal

When you live on 5 acres there is always, always work that needs to be done, and most of the time Saturday's are the only day available. EVERYONE has to pitch in and do his share.
Don working in the field
Roxy protecting the property
Eve, hard at work

Home Again!

Standing on Mars Hill in Athens.
Lunch after Meeting in Athens.
At the Vatican in Rome
At convention in Norway
Well Don and I are home from our Med cruise. We were in a whirlwind of countries, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Monaco, France, Greece, and Norway, all over three weeks. Had a great time (thanks Castons, Wainwrights, and Chappels for making it so). And a BIG thanks to Ester Lynch who did all the hard work of putting the trip together for all of us and then inviting us to Norway for convention. John and Ester are the most gracious hosts. I missed my kids and grandbabies terribly. Eli was just 2 weeks old when we left and now he is over a month and built like a truck. There is no doubt that he and Chloe are siblings, just one is blonde and one is dark. As fun as it was to see the world, we were very happy to come home to US soil where things are familiar, and we know the rules. Greece was my favorite place to see. We were there on a sunday so the meeting we went to was so touching and afterwards they put on a big lunch, with authentic Greek food, for all of us, then 3 of the workers toured us around Athens. Mars Hill, the Parthenon, and the Acropolis were by far the most amazing thing I have ever seen. The only down side to the trip was the HEAT! I so appreciated the dry heat we have in Elk Grove, because over there it is humid and hot, hot, hot!

Father's Day

The Old guys, Don and Max
The "Joe's"
The "Jim's"
The backyard in bloom


On Father's Day we had a BBQ for the "Joe's" and the "Jim's" (as they say in Wisconsin), along with Max and Ellen and Lynell Hansen. (Cari and Juan and Scarlett were out of town for the week.) It was a fun day and great to spend time with the newest little grandguy Eli.....jah Joseph. And of course, Luke, Mia, and funny, funny Chloe. Now that she is starting to talk she says the funniest things. Well funny to her Nana and Grandpa, anyway. The weather was great, in the low 90's but with the delta breezes we get it felt in the 80's. The backyard is so pretty now, flowers are blooming, of course so are the bees, but for the most part we let them make honey and they let us swim. Joe and Jim are such good dad's it was nice to share this day with them, and of course the big guys, Don and Max.

Vaaaacation

Don and I are getting ready for our Mediterrean (sp?) cruise in a couple of weeks. We are leaving on June 25th and coming home on July 14th. Well I'm getting excited and Don is looking a little..uh....glazed. He's walking around with a calculator and I don't even want to talk about leaving the shopping bags in the trunk until he leaves for work, whew!!! Just kidding!!!! (sort of!) Anyway, it's our once in every 5 years big trip and we are really looking forward to it. We'll be going with Janis and Butch Caston from Elk Grove, Warren and Sue Wainwright from Mt. Ranch/Merced, and Kent and Sharon Chappell from Milford, New Hampshire. We hope to see some workers and friends and also maybe get to see the convention grounds in Greece. The trip ends with 2 days of convention in Norway. Thanks all to Esther Lynch, who is a travel agent from New York, born and raised in Norway. She and her husband John go back every year for convention so she made all of our traveling plans. She's just the best. I can't even watch Don pack. He says things like, "if we are going to be gone for 15 days, and I can wear 1 pair of pants for 3 days, and they have laundry on the ship, I can probably get by with yada yada yada (this is where he totaly loses me). I can't relate. I'm wondering how I can possibly get by with less then 6 pairs of shoes. He's got his dress and his casual. THAT'S IT! Men are certainly from Mars and women from Venus.

Chloe and Scarlett trying really hard to organize Nana's cabinets.
Jim and Alyssa, Luke and Mia after Sunday lunch.
Chloe giving "loves" to her baby brother!